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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
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THROUGHMfflOME 
o/TAPESTRY 
BRICK 


THROUGH  #QHOME 
o/TAPESTRY 
BRICK 


NO. 
28 


TpISKE  6-  COMPANY  INC 

Iace  bricks?  establish 
Aire  bricks!  ed  in  1864 


25  Arch  St.,  Boston  Arena  Bldg.,  New  York 

AGENCIES  THROUGHOUT  THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  CANADA 


« 


Copyright,  1913. 
J.  Parker  B.  Fiske 


F  OR  E  W  O  R  D 


N  the  top  floor  of  the  Arena  Building,  No.  40  West  32d  Street,  in 
New  York  City,  is  the  new  Home  of  ''Tapestry"  Brick. 
The  remarkable  growth  of  the  "Tapestry"  Brick  business,  during 
the  last  few  years,  has  made  it  necessary  to  seek  new  and  larger 
quarters.  This  has  given  us  the  opportunity,  so  long  sought  for, 
of  building  and  equipping  a  suite  of  offices  especially  for  the  re- 
quirements of  our  business,  and  of  thus  presenting  "Tapestry"  Brick  in  a  more 
intelligible  and  effective  way. 

In  planning  these  new  quarters  we  departed  radically  from  existing  practices. 
The  time-honored  method  of  the  ordinary  brick  merchant— that  of  showing  a 
single  sample  brick,  or  at  most  a  dozen,  built  up  on  a  shelf  with  wooden  strips  to 
imitate  mortar,  is  now  entirely  outgrown.  As  well  might  the  tailor  show  his 
customers  the  yarn  from  which  their  cloth  is  to  be  woven.  Nothing  short  of  a 
whole  wall  can  convey  an  adequate  idea  of  the  characteristics  and  charm  of 
"Tapestry"  Brick.  But  there  were  many  sizes  and  colors  to  be  shown  in  our  new 
exhibit,  and  many  styles  of  bonds  and  mortar  joints  and  numberless  details 
affecting  the  appearance  of  the  finished  work. 

How  could  all  this  variety  of  color  and  size  and  effect  be  presented  without 
the  confusion  of  the  ordinary  multi-colored  "Brick-Shop,"  with  its  mixtures  of 
red  and  buff  and  gray?  How  could  a  display,  primarily  commercial  in  its  nature, 
be  given  the  atmosphere  of  an  art  exhibition? 

The  solution  of  these  problems  is  set  forth  in  the  following  pages. 
In  the  New  York  Home  of  "Tapestry  "  Brick,  five  large  exhibition  rooms  have 
been  provided,  three  of  them  with  immense  skylights;  each  room  is  finished 
in  a  different  color  of  brick,  in  order  that  each  may  convey  its  own  message  without 
interference.  All  standard  and  many  special  bonds  and  a  great  variety  of  mortar 
joints  are  exemplified,  while  there  is  a  wealth  of  decorative  patternwork,  tilings 
for  the  terrace  and  the  interior  floor,  and  a  whole  room  devoted  to  the  use  of  brick 
in  fireplace  and  mantel  construction. 

The  number  of  separate  rooms  into  which  this  exhibit  is  divided,  its  size  and 
completeness,  and  the  study  which  has  been  given  to  its  aesthetic  side,  are  all 
without  a  parallel  in  the  brick  world. 

Feeling  that  the  verdict  of  a  disinterested  party  might  be  more  significant  to 
the  public  than  much  self  praise,  we  have  asked  a  member  of  the  architectural 
profession  to  inspect  these  rooms  and  to  write  his  impressions  for  publication. 

After  reading  his  criticisms,  which  are  given  in  the  following  pages,  you  are 
cordially  invited  to  visit  us. 

It  is  for  you  that  we  have  built  this  Home  of  "Tapestry"  Brick. 

FISKE  &  COMPANY.  INC. 


3 


THE  PERGOLA 

"Red"  group  of  "Tapestry"  and  "Caledonian"  Brick,  standard  size,  full  range 
of  color.  Bonds  employed  are:  " Flemish"  in  the  house  wall,  all-header  in  the  fountain 
wall  and  "Dutch"  in  the  garden  wall  (see  page  12).  Mortar  joints  are  y2  inch  thick, 
"raked  out"  in  the  house  wall  and  "rough-cut-flush"  elsewhere.  The  floor  is  of 
"  Garden  "  Tile,  8  inches  square,  laid  with  "rough-cut-flush"  mortar  joints,  %  inch  thick. 


THROUGH     THE     HOME     OF  "TAPESTRY 

BY  ARTHUR  G.  BYNE 


BRICK 


NTIL  recently,  the  word  "  brickwork  "  has  signified  to  most  people  the 
dreary,  monotonous-looking  factories  of  some  industrial  town,  or  perhaps 
the  dull,  uninteresting  walls  of  the  unloved  schoolhouse  of  childhood. 
Of  late,  however,  foreign  travel  has  given  the  American  a  new  point  of 
view  in  connection  with  this  subject.  He  has  observed  the  wonderful  effects  obtained 
ages  ago  in  Northern  Italy  by  the  use  of  brick,  or  has  noted  the  fine  old  Sixteenth 
Century  houses  in  France,  with  their  diagonal  brick  patterning  in  different  colors; 
or,  going  still  farther  back  in  the  centuries,  has  examined  old  Roman  work  with 
its  charming  contrasts  between  pale  red  walls  and  deeper  tinted  cornices  and 

4 


mouldings,  all  with  about  the  same  tone  value,  mellow  and  peaceful,  and  not  in 
the  least  reminiscent  of  the  home  factory  or  the  schoolhouse.  This  foreign  brick- 
work has  all  looked  inimitable,  yet  one  could  not  refrain  from  wishing  that  the 
modern  American  manufacturer  would  try  to  emulate  it. 

And  now  we  have  "Tapestry  "  Brick  to  prove  that  he  is  doing  so.  Brick,  after 
long  abuse  and  neglect,  has  escaped  from  the  unintelligent  domination  of  the  demon 
machinery,  and  is  again  taking  its  place  as  an  art  product.  It  is  even  surpassing 
its  ancient  reputation,  for  brickwork  such  as  we  are  about  to  describe  has  an  aesthet  ic 
value  never  before  attained.  * 

For  the  purpose  of  presenting  the  possibilities  of  "Tapestry"  Brick  to  both 
architect  and  layman,  its  makers,  Fiske  &  Company,  Inc.,  have  erected  a  suite  of 
"Tapestry"  Brick  rooms  on  the  top  floor  of  the  Arena  Building  in  New  York  City. 
These  are  architectural,  decorative,  ingenious,  harmonious,  and  above  all,  educa- 
tional. 

A  visit  to  this  unique  exhibit  is  best  started  at  the  Pergola,  with  its  realistic 
impression  of  out-of-doors.  One's  eyes  naturally  center  on  the  easl  or  fountain 
wall,  laid  with  all-headers,  as  the  most  distinctive  feature.  This  header  work 
recalls  an  all-over-patterned  Oriental  rug,  and  for  that  very  reason  looks  at  its 
best  in  a  small  wall  rather  than  on  a  large  facade.  The  eye  lingers  on  this  wall. 
Somewhere  in  Stamboul,  or  Damascus,  or  some  other  Eastern  city  of  enchant- 
ment, hanging  beside  a  trickling  fountain,  there  ought  to  be  rugs  of  just  such  color 
and  texture  as  this  brickwork  possesses. 

The  rest  of  the  Pergola  is  striking  also  in  its  less  exotic  way.  It  exemplifies 
several  styles  of  laying  up  brick — different  bonds,  with  mortar  joints  "rough-cut- 
flush"  and  "raked  out,"  and  with  many  gradations  of  tone  in  both  the  brick  and 
the  mortar.  Yet  the  result  of  all  these  combinations  is  perfectly  homogeneous,  as 
in  some  old  building  abroad  that  took  a  century  or  more  to  erect,  and  in  which, 
consequently,  different  methods  and  materials  have  succeeded  each  other  with 
felicitous  result. 

It  would  be  hard  to  say  which  wall  of  the  Pergola  one  prefers,  and  the  question 
is  lost  sight  of  in  admiring  the  mossy,  mellow  shades  which  until  recently  we 
thought  could  be  imparted  only  by  time.  "Tapestry"  Brickwork  does  not 
have  to  wait  for  the  caressing  hand  of  centuries  to  give  it  the  charm  of  age. 

Passing  from  the  Pergola  one  enters  the  Library,  where  it  takes  but  a  glance 
to  prove  that  bricks  make  an  attractive  background  for  books.  As  to  what  a  fire- 
place should  be  there  are  several  here  to  compare  and  choose  from,  some  extremely 
simple,  others  more  ornamental.  Each  exhibits  a  different  color  scheme- 
amounting  almost  to  polychrome.  This  is  particularly  grateful  to  eyes  that 
have  so  long  been  used  to  monotone,  for  our  early  chaste  white  Colonial  and 
then  our  long  period  of  gloomy  Victorian  Gothic  have  made  us  forget  what  joy 
can  be  imparted  to  architecture  by  color.  If  "Tapestry"  Brick,  with  its  buffs  and 
grays,  its  reds  and  browns  and  rich  plum  shades,  accomplished  no  other  mission 
than  to  bring  this  joy  back  into  our  rooms,  it  would  still  deserve  all  praise. 


5 


THE  FIREPLACE  ROOM 

This  room  contains  five  different  fireplaces  in  Red,  Gray  and  Golden-Buff 
"  Tapestry"  Brick.  It  is  finished  and  furnished  throughout  in  "Craftsman"  style,  and 
is  lighted  by  an  overhead  skylight,  concealed  by  a  heavy  beamed  ceiling  containing 
small  ground  glass  panels.    The  fireplace  illustrated  above  has  a  "  Craftsman  "  Heater. 

In  these  days  when  painted  mural  decoration  can  be  afforded  only  by  the  rich, 
it  is  worth  knowing  that  here,  in  this  structural  material  for  walls,  both  color  and 
design  are  embodied.  How  satisfying  in  this  respect  is  the  golden-buff  mantel  on 
the  south  wall!  It  suggests  unbounded  possibilities,  not  only  for  fireplaces  and  in- 
terior walls,  but,  on  a  larger  scale,  exteriorly.  By  copying  the  clever  way  in  which 
the  mortar  matches  the  body  of  the  brick,  large  flat  decorative. panels  could  be 
obtained,  with  the  darker  vertical  ribs  increased  proportionately  in  width.  It  is 
simple  to  imagine  from  this  admirable  specimen  of  a  brick  fireplace,  the  whole 
lower  portion  of  a  house  laid  up  in  the  same  manner,  as  beautiful  in  its  way  as  the 
old  half  timber  work  of  Europe. 

Opposite  this  fireplace  is  one  that  uses  many  sizes  of  brick,  thus  enabling  the 
designer  to  humor  his  fancy  without  stint.  Patterning  like  this  was  often  used 
by  the  ancients,  but  whereas  they  had  to  cut  up  larger  bricks  to  get  the  smaller 
units  required  by  their  designs,  we  now  have  the  different  sized  units  in  the  fire- 


G 


*  THE  GOLDEN-BUFF  ROOM 

This  room  forms  the  entrance  hall  of  the  suite.  It  is  lined  with  standard  size 
Golden-Buff  "Tapestry"  Brick  and  Tile,  trimmed  with  white  Colonial  woodwork,  and 
furnished  in  mahogany.  The  floor  is  of  Repressed  Tile  to  match  the  walls,  with  a 
border  of  Battery  Tile  and  "  Tapestry  "  Brick,  all  laid  with  a  3^-inch  buff  mortar  joint. 

place  before  us  all  standardized.  The  little  Pony  Brick,  the  sturdy  Norman 
Brick,  the  long  flat  Real  Roman  Brick,  are  all  made  to  measure,  and  require  not 
one  extra  minute  of  the  bricklayer's  time  to  put  in  place.  This  variety  of  size  and 
form  is  an  innovation  in  this  field.  The  complaint  of  a  great  architect  of  a  few- 
years  ago  that  44  the  aim  of  every  brickmaker  is  to  produce  units  as  exact  in  shape, 
as  sharp  in  edge,  as  smooth  in  surface,  and  as  uniformly  bright  red  as  it  is  possible 
to  make  them,"  no  longer  holds  true.  " Tapestry"  Brick  has  learned  Nature's 
lesson  of  endless  variety. 

In  the  red  fireplace  extending  from  floor  to  ceiling,  so  well  illustrated  on  the 
opposite  page  as  to  require  no  lengthy  description,  a  real  log  fire  is  always  burning 
on  cold  days,  thus  adding  a  note  of  genuine  hospitality  and  good  cheer  to  the 
whole  room. 

The  next  room,  the  Red  Room,  is  a  veritable  tour  de  main  in  the  way  of  won- 
i  *  derful  brickwork.    It  brings  to  mind  all  the  glory  of  the  best  Italian  period,  plus 


7 


THE  RED  ROOM 

This  is  a  view  looking  southwest.  This  room  contains  sixteen  different  panels 
of  various  sizes  and  shapes,  including  all  standard  bonds  and  a  great  variety  of  thick- 
ness, color  and  finish  in  mortar  joints.  Particular  attention  is  called  to  the  frieze  of  brick 
patternwork  and  to  the  tympanums,  two  of  which  are  of  faience  and  two  of  brickwork. 


the  richer  coloring  which  the  modern  process  has  attained.  To  begin  with,  the 
Red  Room  is  specially  well  designed  to  show  off  the  material — simple  side  walls 
crowned  with  a  decorative  frieze  and  enriched  by  polychrome  tympanums  over 
the  doorways.  So  harmonious  is  this  room  that  one  is  surprised  to  find  how  many 
different  bonds  and  mortars  and  frieze-designs  have  really  been  used.  Of  the  last 
mentioned,  for  instance,  there  are  four,  and  those  who  have  ever  endeavored  to 
work  out  an  elaborate  pattern  in  brick  will  realize  the  skill  required  to  harmonize 
four  different  friezes  in  one  room.  All  are  set  off  by  the  brilliant  tympanums, 
proving  how  excellent  the  combination  of  "Tapestry"  Brick  and  faience  can  be. 

Throughout  the  suite  the  floors  command  as  much  attention  as  the  walls,  pre- 
senting, as  they  do,  the  same*  admirable  characteristics  of  color  variation  and 
texture.  The  floor  in  this  room  is  laid  with  slightly  roughened  and  irregular  tile 
six  inches  square,  in  random  shades  varying  from  rich  red  to  a  deep,  mysterious, 
purple.    The  joints  are  half  inch  in  width.    The  smo6th,  painted  effect  of  the 


8 


THE  RED  ROOM 


This  is  a  view  looking  northwest.  A  unique  feature  of  these  exhibition  rooms  is  the 
illumination  by  immense  skylights  instead  of  by  ordinary  windows,  thus  producing  a 
soft,  diffused  light  and  providing  large  unbroken  wall  surfaces  for  brick  treatment. 
The  adjoining  gray  room,  as  shown  in  the  picture,  is  illustrated  on  pages  10  and  11. 

ordinary  quarry  tile  floor  is  thus  entirely  overcome;  yet  the  tile  and  mortar  are 
sufficiently  impervious  to  form  a  perfectly  practical  and  sanitary  floor. 

A  Gray  Room,  illustrated  on  pages  10  and  11,  and  a  Golden-Buff  Room, 
shown  on  page  7,  complete  the  series  and  offer  the  same  points  of  interest  as  the 
Red  Room,  but  in  the  color  schemes  denoted  by  their  respective  titles. 

What  an  opportunity  it  all  offers  to  grasp  the  real  significance  of  the  term 
brickwork!  What  never-before-thought -of  uses  it  indicates  for  this  indestructi- 
ble material!  What  pictures  it  conjures  up,  not  only  of  beautiful  facades  for  all 
sorts  of  city  and  country  buildings,  but  of  anterooms,  libraries,  dining  rooms, 
billiard  rooms  and  other  interiors  of  the  future  home,  as  well  as  school  rooms, 
offices,  hotel  lobbies  and  rathskellers,  shops,  railway  waiting  rooms  and  many 
other  public  or  semi-public  interiors,  all  beautiful,  enduring  and  of  infinite  variety! 

Nowhere,  except  perhaps  in  a  few  Moorish  walls  in  Spain,  has  brick  been  made 
to  sing  such  a  bewitching  song  as  it  sings  in  the  Home  of  "  Tapestry  "  Brick. 


9 


I 


THE  GRAY  ROOM 

This  is  a  view  looking  southwest  with  the  Red  Room  and  the  Fireplace  Room 
beyond.     In  this  room  are  Gray  "Tapestry"  Brick  of  standard  and  Norman  sizes,  v 
with  a  great  variety  of  treatment.    Six  different  bonds,  three  different  colors  of  mortar 
and  three  different  styles  of  finishing  the  mortar  joints  are  shown  in  this  room. 

Here  the  atmosphere  is  vastly  different  from  those  dry  offices  where  bricks  are 
scientifically  arranged  for  display — a  square  yard  of  red  brick,  another  of  buff,  an- 
other of  shiny  white,  with  never  a  hint  at  the  multitudinous  possibilities  for  bond- 
ing and  jointing. 

A  visit  to  the  designing  room  of  Fiske  &  Company,  Inc.,  is  another  experi- 
ence for  those  who  understand  what  such  a  room  should  be.  It  is  not  the  mechani- 
cal draughting  room  of  the  ordinary  commercial  brick  concern,  where  only  com- 
plex drawings  of  moulded  bricks  and  patterns  are  made,  along  with  endless  calcu- 
lations of  quantities;  it  is  an  atelier  where  brickwork  is  studied  as  an  art,  just  as 
mosaic  designing  was  studied  in  the  days  before  the  Renaissance  invention  of 
fresco  drove  mosaic  from  the  list  of  wall  decorations.  The  men  who  reign  in  this  ; 
room  are  trained  designers  and  subtle  colorists.  They  are  not  trying  merely  to 
make  paintings  on  paper,  but  to  work  out  with  their  44 Tapestry"  Brick  unit  and 
with  its  peculiarities  and  its  limitations  always  in  view,  designs  that  are  adapted 


in 


THE  GRAY  ROOM 

This  is  a  view  looking  northwest.  Special  attention  is  called  to  the  brick  pattern- 
work  shown  in  "this  room,  to  the  beautiful  trim  of  rich  brown  shades,  and  to  the 
Repressed  Tile  floor,  with  a  decorative  brick  border,  all  selected  in  colors  to  harmonize 
with  the  walls.    Through  the  arched  doorway  is  seen  the  Golden-Buff  Reception  Room. 

to  it,  that  have  the  brick  technique  and  that  enhance  its  beauty.  The  art  of  lay- 
ing up  " Tapestry"  Brick,  one  might  therefore  say,  grows  directly  out  of  its  own 
soil.  This  is  the  secret  of  its  great  merit;  it  is  not  a  trade  product,  but  an  art 
product,  all  the  more  so  since  the  manufacturers  themselves  are  also  the  designers. 

Yet  with  all  this  commendable  effort  on  the  part  of  the  manufacturers,  it  will 
not  be  until  the  public  has  learned  the  difference  between  good  and  bad  that  the 
unlovely,  blighting  brickwork  of  a  few  decades  back  will  be  discontinued.  Bad 
work  in  the  domestic  crafts  can  be  foisted  on  the  public  only  so  long  as  purchasers 
remain  uncritical  and  undiscriminating.  This  is  precisely  what  one  can  not  remain 
after  a  visit  to  the  Home  of  "  Tapestry  "  Brick.  For  their  efforts  to  cultivate 
the  judgment  and  taste  of  the  public,  as  well  as  for  their  success  in  reviving  some 
of  the  potential  poetry  of  this  world-old  material,  Fiske  &  Company,  Inc.,  deserve 
the  praise  of  everyone  interested  in  beautiful  homes. 


Ll 


THE    GARDEN  WALL 


The  designing  and  construction  of  the  Exhibi- 
tion Rooms  described  in  this  book  were  done  by 
the  Designing  Department  of  Fiske  &  Company, 
Inc.,  Henry  J.  F.  Ludeman,  architect-in-charge. 


12 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBAN  A 


3  0112  048940222 


